Follow The Queer-A-Day Project via Email

Meta

Hi’iaka

Standard

Hi’iaka, the patron goddess of Hawai’i, is one of several seemingly bisexual characters in the island’s mythological canon. She is featured in an epic (with several variations) that tells the story of her elder sister Pele‘s infatuation with a mortal man and Hi’iaka’s quest to retrieve him. Hi’iaka’s traveling companions – all women – are described in loving terms, and her request to her sister (the goddess of volcanos) in exchange for fetching her beloved is that she not destroy Hi’iaka’s companion, Hopoe. When her journey runs long due to encounters with demon snakes and other dangers, Pele takes action, murdering Hopoe and the man Hi’iaka was sent to find in a fit of jealous rage. Instead of flinching at the sudden violence, Hi’iaka brings the victims back to life and reconciles with her sisters.

Wikipedia describes the majority of the story’s participants as bisexual, though explicit confirmation is not available online.